One new bank account is opened every six seconds in Britain, with millennials and generation Z opening the most, new research has discovered.

A third of millennials (aged 22-37) and generation-Zers (aged 18-21) opened at least two new accounts within the past five years, a study commissioned for digital banking software provider, Crealogix, found.

Another 78 per cent of millennials and generation Z said they would consider opening another account in the next three years.

Digital: Those under 37 said certain technological features would entice them to join a bank

One of the reasons for the increase in accounts being opened is the rise of challenger banks, such as Monzo and Starling.

Many millennials and Gen-Zers prefer to opt for these banks as most are mobile-only and more digitally advanced.

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The independent study was conducted by Censuswide who interviewed 2,000 adults with a bank account.

Crealogix researched digital features offered by a number of UK and European challenger bank brands and online banking websites to find which ones under 37s were most keen to utilise.

However, it's not just the banks themselves that are tempting this age bracket - 83 per cent said access to certain desirable features would entice them into opening a new account.

One feature in particular they would like is for the bank to give them a prediction of whether they were on course to run out of money before their next payday, with a third saying this would attract them to a bank.

AGE GROUPS WITH CHALLENGER BANK ACCOUNTS

18-21

22-37

38-54

55-65

Total

I don't currently have an account with a mobile-only digital banking provider

74%

78.1%

89.8%

94.1%

85.7%

Starling Bank

7.7%

6.7%

2.8%

1.1%

4.1%

Revolut

7.7%

5.5%

3.1%

2.1%

4%

Monzo

6.1%

7%

2.8%

1.1%

4%

Atom Bank

5.5%

4.8%

1.6%

1.5%

3%

Tandem

2.8%

3.8%

1.3%

0.4%

2%

N26

3.3%

2.5%

0.4%

0.2%

1.3%

Other, please specify

2.8%

1.6%

1%

0.6%

1.3%

Source: Crealogix

Modern features hit the right note

Victoria Khodyreva, 23, a software developer, who took part in the study said that having a prediction of her finances would be helpful.

She said: 'Being on a tight budget, it would be great to get a forecast of how long my money would last at my current spending rate, like an app that could look at my spending targets on a weekly and monthly basis, and alert me if I'm spending too much and won't make it to pay day.

'If there's a feature where I spent less, and it automatically transferred the rest of the money into a savings pot, that would be ideal.'

Budget: Victoria, 23, said having a forecast of how long her money would last would be helpful

Nearly half of those in generation Z also said that having the ability to immediately freeze and unfreeze cards that have been lost or stolen would encourage them to open a new account.

This is a feature that has been picked up by many mainstream banks in recent months in an effort to tackle fraud.

Another 40 per cent said having a visual summary of their spending is a desirable asset.

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Other attractive features include instant PIN changes, the ability to split the bill between friends and the ability to trade cryptocurrency.

Controlling their overdraft limit via a banking app is also another attractive feature that Gen-Zers, in particular, would like.

Anton Zdziebczok, head of product strategy at Crealogix UK, said: 'With the recent anniversary of the open banking initiative, our research found that the directive has had a positive impact on overall competition in the retail banking market, and customers are increasingly trying out new bank accounts.

'This comes as good news for financial regulators, who have been fighting in the 10 years since the financial crisis for more consumer choice and innovation in the highly concentrated UK retail banking market.

'This increased competition encourages innovation, ultimately delivering the best experience to the consumer.

'However, where the agile, mobile-first banks are using technology to win new customers, the incumbent banks have been slower to adapt.'

Graph showing what the biggest attractions to mobile banking is by different age groups

The study also found that Monzo was the most popular for millennials, with seven per cent of 22-37s having an account with Monzo, while Starling was most popular overall between all the age groups, with 4.1 per cent of respondents having an account.

When respondents were asked what they are looking for when opening a new bank account, they overwhelmingly said the mobile banking user experience was most important, including convenience, functionality and easy control over their account.

Jamie Dempster, 28, a town planning consultant, is another of the study's respondents.

Plan: Jamie, 28, believes that having a budgeting feature on an app would be helpful

He said: 'For me, having a budgeting feature on a banking app would be fantastic.

'I've recently moved into a new flat with my girlfriend, so there are far more bills and regular payments that I now need to be aware of.

'Currently I've got all this information documented in a spreadsheet but it takes time to input all the details of my regular payments.

'If a banking app could automatically take into account my average expenditure on a monthly basis, as well as factor in putting money aside for savings, it would make life so much easier and I'd be able to budget the rest of my month accordingly.'

Gen-Zers will soon make up the largest demographic cohort, as they will compromise 32 per cent of the global population, overtaking millennials who currently make up 31.5 per cent of the global population of 7.7billion.

This means that different user experiences pioneered by challenger banks give them a strong advantage in continuing to win the market share – unless high street banks are able to offer more of these features.